Frequently Asked QuestionsAbout The

(ELF)

The ELF realizes theprofit motive causedand reinforced by thecapitalist society isdestroying all life onthis planet. The onlyway, at this point intime, to stop that continued destructionof life is to by anymeans necessary takethe profit motive out ofkilling.

North American Earth Liberation Front

Press OfficeNAELFPO

interest since 1997 on the North American ELF Press Office,foolishly believing that the office might have some direct con-nection to ELF members. It doesn't. After years of surveil-lance, harassment, two major raids and property seizures, andnumerous grand jury subpoenas, the U.S. Department ofJustice continues to place pressure on the press office to shutdown. They don't seem to be having much luck.

Another step that the protectors of the state and commercehave taken is to have the Federal Bureau of Investigation clas-sify the ELF as a domestic terrorism group. In fact the F.B.I.has referred to the ELF as the leading domestic terrorismthreat in the United States. This classification allowed height-ened surveillance and investigative techniques to be legallyused against the ELF. In addition this move by the F.B.I.allowed the formal creation of Joint Terrorism Task Forces inmost larger urban areas throughout the U.S. One example isbelow.

On November 25, 2000 the NAELFPO received notice that aterrorism task force had been approved in Portland, Oregon bythe City Council. This new force involves both the F.B.I. andthe Portland Police Bureau. The original ordinance passed byCity Council on has a particularly interesting mission state-ment. Mission statement #3 of 4 stated, "The mission of the PJTTF is to identify and target for prose-cution those individuals or groups who are responsible forRight Wing and/or Left Wing movements, as well as acts ofthe anti-abortion movement and the Animal LiberationFront/Earth Liberation Front."Public outcry in opposition to the above mission resulted in arewording but the idea remains the same. The state is begin-ning to recognize that the ELF poses a major threat to com-merce so they are reacting accordingly.

In addition certain U.S. states, including Oregon andWashington, are adopting "ecoterrorism" laws into the statelegal system. These laws greatly heighten the sentencing lim-its for crimes largely associated with the interference of com-

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fOR MORE INFORMATION, FOR ADDITIONAL COPIES OFTHIS BOOKLET OR FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES CONTACT:

Frequently Asked QuestionsAbout The

EARTH LIBERATION

FRONT(ELF)

NORTH AMERICAN ELF PRESS OFFICE ~ 2001

WWhat is the Earth Liberation Front (ELF)?

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is an international under-ground organization that uses direct action in the form of eco-nomic sabotage to stop the exploitation and destruction of thenatural environment.

HHow and when did the group begin?

It has been speculated that the group was founded in the early1990s as an offshoot of Earth First in England. The ideologyof the ELF spread to North America in the mid 1990s. InNovember 1997, the ELF officially claimed responsibility forthe group's first action in North America. The claim of respon-sibility was sent to above ground supporters who released theinformation to the media. In the communiqué the ELF claimedcredit for releasing wild horses and burning down a Bureau ofLand Management Horse Corral near Burns, Oregon onNovember 29, 1997. The communiqué appeared as follows,

"The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims they areremoving non-native species from public lands (aren't whiteEuropeans also non-native?) but then they turn around andsubsidize the cattle industry and place thousands of non-native domestic cattle on these same lands……to help halt the BLM's illegal and immoral business of round-ing up wild horses from public lands and funneling them toslaughter…

The ELF supports the right for all individuals to have properaccess to adequate nourishment, health care, shelter, and thebasic necessities of life. There is however no excuse for indi-viduals to be working at a job that is directly threatening theability for all life on the planet to exist. If an individual,whether an executive, owner, or bottom of the ladder employ-ee is profiting off the destruction of the natural environmentaiding in the stockpiling of wealth which will end up in thehands of a few, the least they deserve is to lose their job.

Individuals cannot blindly enter into any form of employment,regardless of the pay, without first considering who and/orwhat that work is going to hurt. The victim vs. the benefactorratio must be greatly considered and occupations which posea threat to life must be abolished.

WWhat approach has lawenforcement taken to stop

the work of the ELF?From 1997 through 2000, not a single person was arrestedand charged with an ELF related crime in North America.Then, on January 25, 2001, the first ELF related arrest inNorth America came. Since that time there have only been afew others. The ELF by all accounts has been extremely suc-cessful in evading law enforcement due to the anonymous cellstructure.

Law enforcement from the federal down to the local level hasbeen extremely frustrated. Out of this frustration, aboveground individuals around the country have been harassed,subpoenaed to grand juries, have had their homes and officesraided and property seized, and more.

The U.S. Department of Justice has particularly focused its 129

This hypocrisy and genocide against the horse nation will notgo unchallenged! The practice of rounding up and auctioningwild horses must be stopped. The practice of grazing cattleon public lands must be stopped. The time to take action isnow. From an investigation like the Associated Press' to writ-ing the BLM to an action like ours, you can help stop theslaughter and save our Mother Earth..."

This action caused an estimated $450,000 in damages to thefacility and 448 wild horses and 51 burros were set free.

Since November of 1997, there have been over two dozenmajor actions performed by the ELF in North America aloneresulting in nearly $40 million in damages.

WWhere is the ELF based geographically?

The ELF has no centralized location. Actions have been takenby the ELF all across the United States, in Canada, throughoutEurope, and in South America. The number of locations tar-geted by the ELF continues to increase.

How is the organization structured?

The ELF is organized into autonomous cells which operateindependently and anonymously from one another and thegeneral public. The group does not contain a hierarchy or anysort of leadership. Instead the group operates under an ideol-

If an action similar to one performed by the ELF occurred andresulted in an individual becoming physically injured or losingtheir life this would not be considered an ELF action. It mayhave been done for social and political reasons and even mayhave had the same motives as the ELF but since a life formwas injured it would not be considered an actual ELF action.

Remember the ELF exists to protect life on this planet. Thechoice to use economic sabotage is a very deliberate and pur-poseful strategy to target the real underlying threat to life - thequest for profit and power. The ELF does not engage in statesanctioned tactics or those which physically harm people orlife in general due to the group's belief that economic sabo-tage is the best, most direct way to take the profit motive outof destroying the planet.

The real violence and danger comes from businesses clear-cutting forests and destroying ecosystems, from pollutantscarelessly pumped into our air by industrial and consumersociety, from water being poisoned to the point of beingundrinkable, by people eating commercially grown non-organicfood, and many, many more. Very often by labeling the ELFas violent it is a means by which mainstream society, govern-ment, and big business can attempt to forget about the realtrue violence which occurs everyday, the violence against life.

IIs the ELF concerned with the workers at a given business who may be

forced into unemployment by an action?

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ogy. If an individual believes in the ideology and follows a cer-tain set of guidelines she or he can perform actions andbecome a part of the ELF.

This cell structure has been extremely effective in ensuring thecontinuation of the organization with minimal arrests. Lawenforcement, particularly in North America are trained to rec-ognize and deal with organizations that have a leader, a hier-archy and a central headquarters. The ELF does not containany of these. Due to the autonomous and undergroundaspects of the ELF cells, an infiltration into a cell by no waymeans the entire movement will be stopped. If one individualor even one entire cell is captured by authorities, other individ-uals and cells will be free to continue their work as they oper-ate independently and anonymously from one another.

The cell structure is a type of guerilla tactic which has beensuccessfully employed by various movements around theworld for ages. It can be a successful tactic when used prop-erly against a greater military power.

HHow many members are in the ELF?

It is next to impossible to estimate the number of ELF mem-bers internationally or even country by country. Since 1997, inthe United States, the ELF actions have steadily increasedand have appeared in a growing number of differing geograph-ical areas. Therefore it is safe to assume the group continuesto grow in size.

More and more people around the world are realizing the hor-rifying state of the environment and the extreme, continuousexploitation of people and life in general caused by the greedy

of direct action abroad and outside of the westernized coun-tries, such as the armed self defense of the Zapatistas, whilesimultaneously denouncing direct action domestically to pro-tect life is practicing one of the sickest forms of hypocrisy, ifnot a form of racism and imperialism.

No one in their right mind can honestly state that the popularenvironmental movement using state sanctioned tactics hasbeen successful. It is very obvious something more is need-ed. There is no tolerable excuse for an individual or organiza-tion that claims to be a part of the movement to protect all lifeon the planet to come out publicly against the actions of theELF. If the individual or particular organization disagrees withthe tactics it is just as easy to come out publicly when askedand respond with a statement such as, although I or our orga-nization does not take part in actions like those of the ELF, I orwe can understand the motivations because the threat to lifeon this planet is very real and serious." What this statementdoes is to not publicly show a major rift in the movement but togive at least the perception of a varied movement strong andrich in diversity.

WWhat if someone is injured by an ELF action?Has that ever happened?

The guidelines for the ELF specifically require members totake all necessary precautions to ensure no one is physicallyinjured. In the history of the ELF internationally no one hasbeen injured from the group's actions and that is not a coinci-dence. Yes, the use of fire as a tool is dangerous but whenused properly it can tremendously aid in the destruction ofproperty associated with the killing of life.

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individual wanting more numbers to appear in the bankaccount. Simultaneously people are becoming increasinglyfrustrated with the exhausted state sanctioned, legal means ofsocial change because on their own they do not work.

If people are serious about stopping the destruction andexploitation of all life on the planet then they must also be seri-ous about recognizing the need for a real direct action cam-paign and their own personal involvement.

One cell in the ELF can consist of just a few people who havethe ability to cause extreme amounts of economic damagewith just one action. It doesn't take a trained expert tobecome involved in the ELF, just individuals who really careabout life on the planet to the degree that they want to takeactions to protect it. Environmental protection is a matter ofself defense and the ELF actions are a natural response to thevery real threats to life on earth.

IIs the ELF primarily an environmental organization?

The organization is an environmental group but also one thatrealizes the true cause of murder and destruction of life.Therefore it is not enough to work solely on single, individualenvironmental issues but in addition the capitalist state and itssymbols of propaganda must also be targeted. It may bemore realistic to refer to the organization as one which worksto protect all life on the planet.

The problem arises when other above ground organizationswho claim to be for the same cause have come out publiclyagainst the actions. Regardless of their motives, these groupshave whether they meant to or not, created a rift in the move-ment. A split in a social and political movement classically sig-nifies a weak point which has been historically and can contin-ue to be exploited by authorities and entities who are interest-ed in the movements demise.

Grassroots and mainstream organizations who have come outpublicly against the actions of the ELF do so either due to eco-nomic reasons (they rely on donations from the public, mem-bers, or grants from charities or governmental or non-govern-mental organizations) and/or they have a firm belief and anexceptional amount of faith in the system of government inoperation in their particular area. Either way this attitudedemonstrates a clear misunderstanding and/or a great reluc-tance to accept the seriousness of the threats to life on thisplanet and to make a firm commitment to work to actually stopthat destruction of life. All of us must remember that themovement to protect all life must not be a means of monetarygain for individuals and organizations but rather one that pro-duces concrete results.

In addition, rarely is the distinction made which is crucial forany movement seeking to actually produce change. There isa clear difference between actions that make an individualsimply feel good and actions which are truly effective and chal-lenge the oppressing party. Actions which make individualsfeel better about themselves are most often safer and pose lit-tle actual threat to the entity which needs to be changed.Especially in the global movement to protect all life, this is indirect reference to the continued belief in and use of statesanctioned tactics which have not only been proven ineffectivebut may only aid in prolonging the real problem. This move-ment to protect all life requires all of us to step out of our com-fort zones and realize what actually needs to be done. Thewesternized individual who may support more extreme forms

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WWhat is the ideology of the ELF?

The ideology is what lies at the heart of the ELF. As previous-ly mentioned the group does not have any sort of hierarchy orphysical leadership but instead revolves around an ideology.This ideology is the key to the group's existence, purpose, andlongevity. So what is it?

The ELF realizes that the destruction of life is not a mere ran-dom occurrence but a deliberate act of violence performed bythose entities concerned with nothing more than pursuingextreme economic gain at any cost. With this realization inmind, the ELF maintains that it is only logical to work toremove the profit motive from killing the earth and all life on it.

Anyone seeking to create actual positive social and politicalchange must reflect on past attempts throughout history tolearn what worked, what didn't, and what can be taken to aidin the current pursuit. A refusal to make this reflection is alsoa refusal to make an honest life commitment to the cause ofjustice and protection of life on this planet.

The ELF recognizes that the popular environmental movementhas failed miserably in its attempts to bring about the protec-tion needed to stop the killing of life on this planet. Statesanctioned means of social change rarely on their own haveand will have any real effect in obtaining the desired results.This is due to the obvious fact that the legal means of protestin solving grievances do little more than reinforce the samesystem which is a root of the problem. The state system is notgoing to allow any real change within it unless the state struc-ture (government), big business, and finally the mainstreamconsumer society feels that change is really necessary. Yet it

life. When an unjust entity is severely attacked financially theywill see it is in their best interests to stop the unjust acts.

Due to the nature of the court systems, particularly in the U.S.,there is little if any chance of a just trial. If an ELF member iscaught and prosecuted they stand the chance of spending aridiculous amount of time in prison because of newer andnewer laws backed by big business and government to protectcommerce.

The decision to not take public responsibility for each action ispurely a strategic one. Why would anyone want to be caughtand unjustly locked up when they could be free to continuedestroying that which is killing life? For the individual to comeforward and take responsibility for an ELF action, this wouldrequire a sound faith in the legal structure. The ELF under-stands that this legal structure is part of the same system ofgovernment and now westernized world domination that iscausing the death of all life. It can never be trusted an ulti-mately needs to be abolished.

DDo ELF actions alienate other groups and

individuals within the environmental movement?

The members of the ELF have never stated that the tactics oftheir group will on their own achieve full change. Of coursethere needs to be public education. The ELF considers itselfone part of a global movement which uses a variety of tacticsto stop the destruction of life. The ELF actions on their owndo not alienate the environmental movement.

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is this same state structure, big business, and consumer soci-ety that is directly responsible for the destruction of life on theplanet for the sake of profit. When these entities have repeat-edly demonstrated their prioritizing of monetary gain ahead oflife, it is absolute foolishness to continue to ask them nicely forreform or revolution. Matters must be taken into the hands ofthe people who need to more and more step outside of thissocietal law to enforce natural law.

One definition of natural law refers to our dependence on thesubstances in the natural environment which enable all life toexist, primarily clean air, clean water, and clean soil. Clean airis needed for life to breathe, clean water is needed for life todrink, and clean soil is needed to grow food for life to eat.

Particularly with the advent of the industrial revolution, thewesternized way of life has been in complete violation of nat-ural law. There is a major difference between taking actionsfor the immediate sustenance of you, your family and yourclose knit community and actions taken to stockpile wealthand to demonstrate power and domination over, and oftentimes at, the expense of others. Yes, everyone should haveaccess to basic necessities of living, a suitable shelter (notonly for you but for the natural environment), access to healthyfood (not only for you but for the natural environment consist-ing of organically and locally grown items using sustainablepermaculture practices free of genetic engineering), access toproper healthcare, etc. But there is no excuse for, out of puregreed and selfishness, desiring more than you need to live afree and happy life. The majority of stockpiling, greed, andmonetary wealth comes at the expense of others whetherhumans, non-human animals or the natural environment.

The ELF ideology considers the various social and politicalproblems facing the world today to be mere symptoms causedby a larger overall problem. Thus, in a sense, to work individ-ually on separate justice issues is to attempt to toss water outof a sinking ship with a teaspoon. (if you are serious about

individuals who are risking their freedom to protect all life onearth. ELF members make a conscience decision to gounderground and remain underground to create the highestlevel of effectiveness. The idea is not for the members to berotting away in prisons but rather to be free each and everyday to continue their heroic actions.

One school of thought under the broad scope of nonviolencetheory states that an individual must allow an entity in opposi-tion to see the evil in his or her own ways and voluntarilychange. This, according to the theory, will create lastingchange. This belief places an extraordinary amount of faith inthe human conscience which at this time has more thanproven to be misguided. If an individual had a working con-science in the first place would they actually engage in activi-ties with threaten and destroy various forms of life on thisplanet? This is not a demonstration of a working conscienceand therefore all the attempts in the world to appeal to theoppressor's conscience will not work. There needs to besomething more.

The ELF recognizes this flaw in conventional nonviolence the-ory and also realizes that remaining safely inside state sanc-tioned societal law while attempting to create social and politi-cal change will never work. Laws are set up as a mere reflec-tion of the morals and norms of the majority of mainstreamsociety. Unfortunately as a result of massive conditioning andthe manufacture of desire, the mainstream public (especially inthe United States) is living a life of extreme over-consumption,ruthlessly attacking the qualities of life we all need to survive,clean air, clean water, and clean soil.

At this point in time there exists the immediate need for indi-viduals to step outside of societal law and work to directly stopthe destruction of life. By any means necessary. The ELFrecognizes that the destruction of the planet is caused by thequest for profit and therefore the only appropriate response atthis stage is to completely remove the profit motive from killing

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stopping the ship from sinking it would only be wise to find thehole and plug it!.) The only way to stop the symptoms of theproblem is to identify the main root cause and directly work toabolish it.

The ELF ideology maintains that it is the very social and politi-cal ideology in operation throughout the westernized countriesthat is creating the various injustices on this planet and ulti-mately the destruction of life. That ideology is capitalism andthe mindset that allows it to exist. Capitalism and (what wehave referred to in the states for years) the American Dreamhave long symbolized a form of economic opportunity andfreedom. The idea that no matter who you were, if youworked hard all your life, you too could have the perfect hus-band or wife, the 2.3 kids, new BMW, the beach house onMaui and penthouse in New York City and loads of cash toplay with.

What wasn't and still isn't told to the millions seeking theAmerican Dream is that dream comes at a price, always hasand always will. That price consists of everything from takingadvantage of slave labor, dumping toxic waste into our water-ways, murdering those who take a stand for justice, destroyingcultures, destroying environments and exploiting and oppress-ing anyone or anything that poses to be a threat, nuisance, ora bump along the path to riches.

What also isn't revealed to the seekers of power and wealth isthat those material possessions represented in the AmericanDream cannot buy you happiness. The quest for monetarygain has left millions of people suffering from depression andother illnesses, has been responsible for countless suicidesand murders, for the demise of the community and familystructure leading to and/or at least being partially responsiblefor such atrocities as the numerous school shootings. Truewealth and real happiness come from good health, a strongcommunity, of knowing the history of your people and yourplace in the world, and of living a life of realism, having a

movement, bombed the Chancellor of the Exchequer DavidLloyd George's villa in Surrey. Pankhurst accepted responsibil-ity for the event and described it as "guerrilla warfare."

In the United States, most everyone has heard of the BostonTea Party which consisted of bands of men boarding Englishships in Boston Harbor among others and dumping British teainto the water. Seldom is this referred to as economic sabo-tage but that is indeed an accurate description of it.

In the protests in the U.S. against the Vietnam War, economicsabotage was once again used in addition to other tactics toplace a great amount of pressure on the U.S. Government. Inthe end due in part to the protests but more to the reality thatthe U.S. lost the war, the U.S. troops began withdrawing fromVietnam.

The above examples represent just a mere fraction of the his-torical instances when economic sabotage has been effective-ly employed. The tactic has a rich and plentiful history inmovements around the globe and makes sense from a purelylogical standpoint. If an item or piece of property is threaten-ing life for the sake of profit, shouldn't it be destroyed?

WWhy don't ELF memberscome forward and publicly

take responsibility for their actions?

Frequently, when this question is asked there is usually somereference made to the ELF members showing cowardice bynot publicly taking responsibility for actions. This is completenonsense. The ELF is made up of brave, utterly courageous

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sense of what it means to be alive and living a life that is notirreversibly harmful to other life forms or the natural environ-ment.

The real symbolic statement of reference to the westernizedworld (especially the U.S.) is apple pie, baseball, and screwanyone or anything you can to make a profit. Sound absurd?Ask the vast amounts of rainforests and old growth naturalareas who destroyed them? Ask the sun why it's path to theearth is far less obstructed due to the depletion of the ozonelayer? Why did this depletion take place? Ask the citizens ofBurbank, California how they enjoy the chromium in theirdrinking water? Why and how did it get there? Ask the fami-lies of the murdered individuals why when they took a standagainst corporations like Shell and Chevron they were killed?Ask the many Native American tribes who it was that mur-dered their families and virtually destroyed their cultures? Askthe relatives of black slaves why slavery was legal years ago?Ask an Iraqi civilian why the U.S. government continues tobomb the country killing innocent people? Ask the executivesof the General Motors Corporation, Ford, and the others whythe Gulf War was fought? Ask the executives of GeneralElectric who it is that has profited massively from virtuallyevery war that has been fought around the world? This is realviolence. This is real injustice. This needs to be stopped byany means necessary.

The ELF realizes the profit motive, caused and reinforced bythe capitalist society, is destroying all life on this planet. Theonly way, at this point in time, to stop that continued destruc-tion of life is to by any means necessary take the profit motiveout of killing.

Using real direct action in the form of economic sabotage, theELF is targeting what the greedy entities care about, theirpocketbooks. By inflicting as much economic damage as pos-sible, the ELF can allow a given entity to decide it is in theirbest economic interests to stop destroying life for the sake of

the work of Gandhi, there was a strong militant faction of theIndependence Movement that played just as an important roleas the work of Gandhi himself. The British government under-stood Gandhi's tactics and knew what broadly to expect fromhim. The more militant sector of the movement posed a fargreater threat to the government simply due to the reality ofthe British not knowing what to expect or what may result if theroad to India's independence was not traveled down. In fact,Gandhi himself was released from prison on at least one occa-sion only on the direct order from the British that he would tryto calm the more militant sector of the movement. Both thenonviolence tactics employed by Gandhi and his followersmixed with the threat of more severe tactics from the militantsector brought the eventual Independence of India.

Most schooling systems also do not teach and educate stu-dents about the Luddites. Perhaps one of the earliest, if notthe first, groups to target the Industrial Revolution and itseffects was a group calling itself the Luddites. From 1811-1816, the Luddites caused extreme economic damage to theweaver industry in England. Angry at the threat to life and cul-ture that the new machines of the industrialized revolutionposed, the Luddites fought back using tactics very similar tothose performed by the ELF today. Some factories wereforced to shut down and others agreed to stop running theindustrialized machines due to the Luddite activity and threat.

In the abolitionist movement in the United States, there arenumerous accounts of slaves sabotaging their "master's" prop-erty and engaging in various tactics to disrupt the flow of com-merce in the slave system. Slave revolts were fairly rare buteven one would create a chilling threat that actually forcedsome slave owners to give up the practice.

The suffragette movement particularly in England used sabo-tage in addition to other tactics to successfully gain rights forwomen. One example occurred in February 1913, whenEmmeline Pankhurst, the founder of England's suffragette

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profit.

Capitalism as a target is not easily identifiable due to it beingan ideology rather than a physical object. But forms and sym-bols of capitalism can be targeted successfully to greatly influ-ence the impact the capitalist state has on life. These sym-bols and forms can take the shape of individuals, businesses,governmental and non-governmental organizations and itemswhich aid in directly destroying life and/or the spread of thedestructive propaganda of the American Dream. The list isendless but could include such symbols in the U.S. as Mt.Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, Disney, Wall Street, etc.

Whatever the target may be, the ELF ideology promotes effi-ciency and effectiveness. It promotes the idea of choosing themost effective target possible and using strategies and tacticsto cause the most amount of economic damage as possible.In addition, the idea of momentum is pushed to create anactual movement that continues to grow to successfully stopthe destruction of life. More and more actions need to betaken by the ELF in order for this success to become a reality.

WWhat are the variousissues that the

ELF has targeted?The specific target areas of the ELF are constantly increasingand will continue to grow to include any threat to life on thisplanet caused by greedy quests for monetary gain. The ELFtargets have included such issues as deforestation (for humandevelopment of roadways, for luxurious living and/or recreationareas, for profit by selling or using trees, etc.), urban sprawl,genetic engineering, natural habitat and ecosystem destruc-tion, the use of slave labor by corporations and more.

to wait to actually stop the destruction of life?

A belief in state sanctioned legal means of social change isalso a sign of faith in the legal system of that same state. TheELF clearly do not have any faith in the legal system of thestate when it comes to protecting life. The state has repeated-ly shown itself to care far more for the protection of commerceand profits than that of its people and the natural environment.To place faith in that same state as though it will do what is inthe best interests of justice and life is utter foolishness and agrave mistake. The state is a major portion of the problem.

There is also a certain intelligence and logic to the idea thatwith one night's work, a few individuals can accomplish whatyears of legal battles and millions of dollars most likely did not.

AAre ELF tactics, such as economic sabotage,

new to social movements?

No, in fact very few if any major successful social movementsglobally have been able to progress using strictly state sanc-tioned tactics. In westernized societies it is quite normal forschools to push the mythical propaganda that state sanctionedmeans are the only way social change has ever beenachieved..

One of the most famous examples usually cited by state sanc-tioned nonviolence absolutists is the Independence Movementin India while under British rule. Classically, people especiallyin privileged westernized societies have been taught thatGandhi's nonviolence tactics were the only methodology usedto gain India's independence from Britain. Yet, in addition to

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WWhat are some of theactions in North Americaperformed by the ELF?

The most notorious action performed by the ELF in NorthAmerica to date was the October 18, 1998 fires set at VailResorts, Inc. Vail, known as one of the premiere ski resorts inthe world, had proposed an 885 acre expansion into one ofthe last remaining habitats for the Canadian lynx in the UnitedStates. Despite clear opposition from a vast majority of thelocal community and a ten year legal battle by local environ-mentalists, Vail was still moving forward with the expansionplans. Members of the ELF felt it was time to increase theopposition. The action caused an estimated $12-$26 million indamages to Vail and brought the issue of expansion intowilderness once again into the international spotlight. Thecommuniqué sent by the ELF taking credit for this actionappeared as follows,

"On behalf of the lynx, five buildings and four ski lifts at Vailwere reduced to ashes on the night of Sunday, October 18th.Vail, Inc. is already the largest ski operation in North Americaand now wants to expand even further. The 12 miles of roadsand 885 acres of clearcuts will ruin the last, best lynx habitat inthe state. Putting profits ahead of Colorado's wildlife will notbe tolerated. This action is just a warning. We will be back ifthis greedy corporation continues to trespass into wild andunroaded areas. For your safety and convenience, we strong-ly advise skiers to choose other destinations until Vail cancelsits inexcusable plans for expansion. - Earth Liberation Front"

On December 27, 1998, the ELF burned down the corporateheadquarters of US Forest Industries in Medford, Oregon.This particular target served as the corporate headquarters for

labeled negatively? What if people were honestly told why thegroup exists and who its targets are? Obviously more andmore people would support and take part in ELF actions.

The ELF is not an ecoterrorist organization or any sort of ter-rorist organization but rather one that is working to protect alllife on planet earth. It is amazingly hypocritical for mainstreammedia and the federal government to label the ELF as a terror-ist group yet at the same time ignoring the U.S. governmentand U.S. based corporations which every day exploit, torture,and murder people around the world.

WWhy don't members of the ELF use more

traditional tactics to achieveenvironmental protection?

The mainstream public has been fed an extreme amount offalse and misleading propaganda in regards to "traditional tac-tics", those which are strictly legal and sanctioned by the state.In reality a more honest definition of traditional tactics wouldinclude illegal direct action such as economic sabotage due toits crucial role in numerous successful social and politicalmovements throughout history.

The ELF does not engage in more traditional tactics simplybecause they have been proven not to work, especially ontheir own. The popular, modern mainstream environmentalmovement, which began arguably in the early 1960s, hasfailed in its attempts to bring about the needed protection tostop the destruction of life on this planet. This fact cannot berightly disputed. The quality of our air, water, and soil contin-ues to decrease as more and more life forms on the planetsuffer and die as a result. How much longer are we supposed

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four mills; a White City veneer mill and a Grants Pass plywoodmill in Oregon, a sawmill in Florida and a studmill in Colorado.The action caused an estimated $500,000-$800,000 in dam-ages to US Forest Industries. The communiqué sent by theELF taking credit for this action stated,

"To celebrate the holidays we decided on a bonfire.Unfortunately for U.S. Forest Industries it was at their corpo-rate headquarters office…On the foggy night after Christmas, when everyone wasdigesting their turkey and pie, Santa's ELFs dropped two five-gallon buckets of diesel/unleaded mix and a gallon jug withcigarette delays; which proved to be more than enough to getthis party started.This was in retribution for all the wild forests and animals lostto feed the wallets of greedy fucks like Jerry Bramwell, U.S.F.I.president… and it is a warning to all others responsible, wedo not sleep and we won't quit."

Just under a year later, on December 25, 1999 the ELF target-ed the northwest regional headquarters of Boise Cascade inMonmouth, Oregon. A $1 million fire set by the ELF burnedthe 8,000 square foot building to the ground. A few days afterthe fire the ELF sent the following communiqué,

"Boise Cascade has been very naughty. After ravaging theforests of the Pacific Northwest, Boise Cascade now lookstowards the virgin forests of Chile. Early Christmas morning,elves left coal in Boise Cascade's stocking. Four buckets ofdiesel and gas with kitchen timer delay destroyed their region-al headquarters in Monmouth, Oregon. Let this be a lesson toall greedy multinational corporations who don't respect theirecosystems. The elves are watching. - Earth Liberation Front"

Boise Cascade had recently teamed up with Maderas Condor,a Chilean company, to continue their expanding practices ofdeforestation in the Puerto Montt area of Chile, one of the fewremaining areas in the world which had remained free from

ians nor did they see the constant bombings of urban areasfilled with civilians. Instead, what NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN andthe others showed the public were heavily censored and fil-tered computerized images that appeared like a video game.This was an obvious attempt to build the patriotism level or atleast maintain it within the States.

When a news event takes place it should be the responsibilityof the news agency to provide a balanced, objective view ofthe events to the public free from labels and other forms ofmind coercion. If this did occur, the mind of the individualwould be allowed to remain open to receive and process infor-mation, thus allowing the individual to come to his/her ownconclusions. This is in direct contrast to the reality of today'snews world where the public is made to feel like they are mak-ing free conscious decisions when in fact they are succumbingto mind control and preformed opinions created by the stateand societal forces based around commerce.

By labeling an action or a news event, the public is forced toadopt the media created stigma, either positive or negative inresponse to that label. Think of what goes through your mindwhen you hear the term terrorist. Usually it relates somehowto racist beliefs and stereotypes about Arabs, about airlinehijackings, violence, and about how terrorists need to becaught and/or killed to be kept away from society. So whenthe federal government and the mainstream press immediatelylabel actions of the ELF as ecoterrorism all this can do is cre-ate a negative stereotype in the minds of the public.Unfortunately as the pressures of mind control through label-ing increase it becomes more difficult to allow the mind toremain open to independently process information and formless biased opinions. Which is precisely what the federal gov-ernment and law enforcement want is to make sure that themainstream public immediately equates the ELF with ecoter-rorism.

Can you imagine just what might occur if the ELF was not

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massive cutting.

Just six days later, on New Years Eve, 1999 the ELF for thefirst time turned to the subject of genetic engineering. AtMichigan State University, Catherine Ives worked as aresearcher, according to her, to help feed the starving peopleof the world through biotechnology. One of her programsfunded in part by Monsanto and the U.S. Agency forInternational Development involved attempts to coerce farmersin less westernized countries to give up sustainable agricultur-al practices for reliance on the biotech industry, in particularMonsanto who among numerous other creations brought theterminator seed to life. These seeds which do not reproducerequire farmers to purchase new seeds annually fromMonsanto.

The idea that there just is not enough food in the world to feedthe current population is an absolute myth being used by thebiotech industry as one of their reasons to continue into thearea of gene manipulation. The public relations departmentsat Monsanto and in other firms within the biotech industry arebeing far from truthful by presenting this appearance of altru-ism as though they are helping people in, as they refer tothem, the "developing nations" to improve their lives. It is noth-ing but another form of largely U.S. based imperialismattempting to control and destroy non-westernized cultures forthe sake of monetary gain. Is it just a mere coincidence thatMonsanto, the U.S. Agency for International Development andCatherine Ives, are not teaching and promoting organic per-maculture in less-westernized countries? And just anothercoincidence that instead they are manufacturing the desire forgenetically altered seeds which Monsanto conveniently sells?

In response to this program and Catherine Ives work, the ELFset fire to her offices at Michigan State University causing anestimated $400,000-$900,000 in damages. Ives herself admit-ted the fire destroyed years of her work. A communiqué sentby the ELF stated,

IIs the ELF a terrorist and violent organization?

Federal authorities and mainstream media particularly in theUnited States have done an outstanding job at feeding thepublic false rhetoric largely associated with the term ecoterror-ism. Any action taken by the ELF has been labeled as ecoter-rorist by the press and law enforcement for a particular, veryconscious purpose.

What would happen if a major ELF action was taken andinstead of instantly labeling it as ecoterrorism,. the press andauthorities did not take a biased perspective and honestlyrevealed the entire story including the motives for taking thataction. Perhaps the public might be a little too eager to sup-port the action and a lot less likely to quickly condemn thegroup.

What happens though in today's fast paced media savvy soci-ety is that news and mainstream media are used to control theminds and actions of the mainstream public. Large newsagencies and the federal government learned its lesson duringthe Vietnam War era when pictures a little to true to realitywere brought home into the living rooms of the public. As aresponse to the atrocities committed by the United States inVietnam, the public within the States became angry and foughtback. This was largely due to the fact they had more accessto real information, less censored and controlled by societalforces.

A major difference could be seen in comparing the imagesshown to the public in the United States during the VietnamWar and those shown during the Gulf War in the early 1990s.The American public did not see the murder of countless civil-

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"The E.L.F. takes credit for a strike on the offices of CatherineIves, Rm. 324 Agricultural Hall at Michigan State University onDec. 31, 1999. The offices were doused with gasoline and setafire. This was done in response to the work being done toforce developing nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa toswitch from natural crop plants to genetically altered sweetpotatoes, corn, bananas, and pineapples. Monsanto andUSAID are major funders of the research and promotionalwork being done through Michigan State University. Accordingto local newspapers, the fire cost $400,000 in damage.Cremate Monsanto, Long live the E.L.F. On to the next G.E.target!"

Just under a month later, on January 23, 2000, the ELF setfire to a new luxury home under construction in theBloomington, Indiana area. This home, which was to be val-ued at between $750,000-$1.5 million upon completion, threat-ened the Lake Monroe watershed which supplies clean, freshdrinking water to the Bloomington area. Damage from the firewas assessed at over $200,000 and it marked the first timethe ELF had targeted what the group chose to call urbansprawl.

The communiqué sent by the ELF claiming responsibility forthis action stated,

"Greetings from Bloomington, IN:

The Earth Liberation Front would like to take credit for a latenight visit to the Sterling Woods development on the eveningof January 23rd. During our visit, we torched one house thatwas under construction. It was completely destroyed. Thewalls had caved in by the time the fire department arrived.Damage has been assessed at $200,000. When finished thehouse was to be worth $700,000. 'No Sprawl, ELF' was paint-ed on the developers sign. The house was targeted becausethe sprawling development it is located in is in the Lake

to be asked is, are the actions of the ELF successful? If thegroup does not stop a given entity fully with one action thatdoes not mean the action was unsuccessful. The ELF actionshave at least three major goals in mind,

1) To cause as much economic damage as possible to a givenentity that is profiting off the destruction of the natural environ-ment and life for selfish greed and profit,2) To educate the public on the atrocities committed againstthe environment and life,3) To make it known that any entity profiting off the destructionof life for profit may be considered the next target.

With these three goals in mind every action taken by the ELFhas successfully met at least one or more of these goals.

AAren't the ELF targets covered by insurance?

A common argument against the actions of the ELF has beenthat each target has been covered by insurance so the givenentity fails to suffer little if any economic loss. While it is large-ly true that most if not all of the ELF targets have been insuredit is completely ludicrous to believe that insurance companiescan suffer losses of hundreds of thousands to millions of dol-lars without greatly raising the rates of insurance. If the givenentity or even industry was targeted repeatedly by the ELF,insurance companies would either cease to cover these enti-ties or raise the cost too high for a profitable business.

The only problem with ELF actions at this point is there are notenough occurring.

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Monroe Watershed. This is the drinking water supply for thetown of Bloomington, IN and the surrounding area. It isalready being jeopardized by existing development and roads.Once again the rich of the world are destroying what little wehave left in terms of natural areas and collective holdings (thewater). Hopefully they will get the message that we will nottake it anymore."

In addition to the actions listed above, the ELF have takenresponsibility for spiking trees in Eugene, Oregon and inBloomington, IN. They have burned and caused severe eco-nomic damage to a series of homes on Long Island, New Yorkand torched Superior Lumber Company in Glendale, Oregon.In addition the ELF have continued on with their work againstgenetic engineering targeting the Delta & Pine Land CompanyResearch Cotton Gin in Visalia, California (a Monsanto sub-sidiary) and the University of Minnesota at St. Paul. Morerecently the ELF continued to broaden its targets with actionstaken against a Nike Outlet store in Albertville, Minnesota,against an Old Navy Outlet Center on Long Island and more.

The ideology of the ELF reveals that any entity, (whether it bean individual, corporation, governmental or non-governmentalagency) that continues to destroy the natural environment forthe sake of profit and greed may be considered the next targetof the group.

HHow does one become a member of the ELF?

The ELF does not have any sort of physical membership list ormeetings you can attend to become involved. Remember, theELF revolves around not a physical base or classicallydesigned structure, but instead an ideology. If you believe in

the ELF ideology and you follow a certain set of widely pub-lished guidelines, you can conduct actions and become part ofthe ELF.

The ELF guidelines are as follows,

1) To cause as much economic damage as possible to a givenentity that is profiting off the destruction of the natural environ-ment and life for selfish greed and profit,2) To educate the public on the atrocities committed againstthe environment and life,3) To take all necessary precautions against harming life.

As you can see the guidelines are every similar to the goals ofthe ELF with one major exception. The third of three guide-lines states that one must take all necessary precautionsagainst harming life. The ELF considers itself a non-violentorganization as no physical harm has come to a human as aresult of the group's actions. This is by no means a sheercoincidence but in fact a commitment to the guidelines.

Individuals interested in becoming active in the ELF need tofollow the above guidelines and create their own close knitanonymous cell made up of trustworthy and sincere people.Remember the ELF and each cell within it are anonymous notonly to one another but also to the general public. So there isnot a realistic chance of becoming active in an already existingcell. Take initiative, form your own cell and do what needs tobe done!

AAre ELF actions successful?

Perhaps the most important and logical question which needs

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merce.

With every step that the state continues to take in trying tostop the unstoppable, loving work of the ELF, it once againproves its priorities are to protect commerce at any costregardless of the people and life in general.

The classification by the F.B.I. of the ELF as the most seriousdomestic terrorism threat in the U.S., and the increasing num-ber of "ecoterrorism" laws being passed are a definite sign thatthe authorities are considering the ELF a viable threat to thewesternized way of life and to the idea of profits and com-merce at any price. It is a clear sign that the ELF is success-fully threatening that nation state which is destroying life onthis planet.

WWhat is the future of the ELF?

The future of the ELF depends largely on the growing numberof people globally concerned about the destruction of life.Once the ideology of the ELF is understood anyone who ishonestly concerned about the destruction of life should feelcompelled to either support and/or become a member of theorganization.

As the amount of exploitation and destruction of life continuesto increase so will the response from concerned global citi-zens. It is this individual involvement from people all over theworld that justice and protection of life relies upon.

Using real directaction in the form

of economic sabotage, the ELFis targeting what

the greedy entitiescare about, theirpocketbooks. Byinflicting as mucheconomic damage

as possible, theELF can allow agiven entity to

decide it is in theirbest economic

interests to stopdestroying life forthe sake of profit.

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WWhat is the role of theNorth American

ELF Press Office?The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office(NAELFPO) is a legal, above ground news service dedicatedto exposing the political and social motives behind the covertdirect actions of the ELF. The NAELFPO receives anonymouscommuniqués from the ELF and distributes the message tothe media and the public throughout North America.

The NAELFPO provides a public face ideologically in supportof the ELF and similar acts of economic sabotage againstthose who profit from the destruction of the natural environ-ment. The NAELFPO is contacted by the media and publicinternationally to provide information on the political and socialmotives of the ELF actions, and the tactical necessity of covertdirect action. Due to the work of the NAELFPO, individualswho are looking to learn more about these issues have aplace to turn, and the public who may be ignorant to theactions and motives of the ELF are exposed to more frequent

and in-depth coverage in the media.

*Legal Disclaimer*The information provided in this booklet is intended foreducational purposes only; it is not intended to eitherencourage or discourage anyone to do anything illegal.Material within this booklet is not necesarily that of theEarth Liberation Front or the North American EarthLiberation Front Press Office.

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